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A Tale of Terra Nui I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. — Percy Bysshe Shelley Of Shakaz and the Sharaku From the beginning of the universe, there was Shakaz. A sister island to Zakaz, in a dome beside that of its sibling. And while Zakaz was once a lush and fertile land, the expanses of Shakaz were always desert, dotted by oases. Yet, to its natives, Shakaz was always a paradise. It was Shakaz, home of two races similar to the Skakdi — the Torika and the Sharaku. These races were related as the Matoran are to the Toa, for Torika hold the potential to transform into Sharaku. But unlike the Matoran and Toa, the small Torika and the powerful Sharaku lived, fought, and loved together, as equals, for millennia. But, as Makuta Spiriah and his monstrous experiments reigned on Zakaz, so did a Makuta finally descend to rule Shakaz — a fiend known only as the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord enslaved the inhabitants of Shakaz. He forced the Sharaku to serve as soldiers to the Brotherhood, for the Sharaku already possessed varied powers, including those of the elements. Bleak fortresses dotted the land, and Shakaz had its own Dark Time. The Dark Lord, in his mad dreams of glory, soon left Shakaz, taking with him seven mighty, elite Sharaku, warped by his darkness. They were accompanied by their personal Torika servants — Hanak, Zanta, Thukor, Rieka, Kavan, and Vukaz. The Dark Lord came to the isle of Terra Nui, and waged war upon it. He sought the great Kanohi Zlinj, Mask of Nature. Yet the strength of Terra Nui’s eight Toa, aided by the rebellious Torika and the Zlinj itself, destroyed the Dark Lord and his servants, and the invaders’ fortress on Terra Nui sank below the waves. And so, the six Torika came to live on Terra Nui, in the village of Terra-Koro. Soon, the Toa Terra and Terra-Koro’s Turaga Akito departed for the isle of Kemet Nui, to visit its elder, a member of Akito’s old Toa team. On their journey, they were first shipwrecked on Punt Nui, where they fought the foul Atukam Aso and the twisted Toa Ballom. Then, on Kemet Nui, the group faced both Aso and her mate Apep, the Scourge of Kemet Nui. Combined with the Toa Septiu of Kemet Nui, the Toa Terra confronted these Atukam, and the demonic hordes of Betshu, in a mighty battle. On Terra Nui, as the Torika guarded it in the stead of the Toa Terra, strange beings called the Quntaino were unleashed on the island. Led by the being Argantaros, they sought mysterious ends on Terra Nui. In time, during their conflict with the Quntaino, the unusual energies of a cavern on the frozen Mount Tongaru transformed the six Torika into Sharaku. With their new strength, they were ultimately able to resolve the crisis of the Quntaino. When the Toa Terra returned to Terra Nui, the six new Sharaku then departed their second home. They bought transport from the infamous Skakdi bounty hunter Chazok, and set a course back to Shakaz, for, although the Dark Lord was dead, the six Sharaku knew their home still suffered from the blight of the Brotherhood’s forces . . . Review
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And so, after a year and a half, another epic of mine. However, as I mentioned in my blog a few days ago, this functions both as another work in the writings of Terra Nui and as a standalone epic, for new and old readers. The first section contains a brief introductory summary, including synopses of my first three epics leading up to this one, but complete information can be found from my library, Akito’s Archive, which contains bios of all characters in my earlier writings, as well as links to my other three epics and two relevant short stories. As the forums archives were lost, this thread is no longer available. I'll be working on getting a new version up soon. Otherwise, questions, comments, and more can be directed into this topic. Enjoy!
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Prologue "We hold the power in our hands to make the world anew." ~~~ Morning came to the island of Kemet Nui. Through the thick fog on the sandy, southern shore, one could almost make out the tall shape of a raft approaching. On a day like this, the normally-rough surf had slackened, so that the vessel moved toward the beach at a slow, leisurely pace. There seemed little on land to greet the oncoming raft — no Nui-Bauk were wheeling and crying in the sky; no Ohee were scuttling on the sand, and no Kofo-Kopen were buzzing over piles of seaweed and washed-up debris. This morning, the beach was silent, except for a thin wind which blew over it in wisps. Not only that, but the fog was everywhere. It obscured the desert lying a few bio beyond the beach, and blocked out view of the small estuary which emptied out of a tributary of the Hapi River and into the ocean. Even the harsh, yellow sun, which normally glared down upon the black soil of the land, was not visible at all. In short, a thick gloom hung upon the coast, as if a dark fist had closed upon Kemet Nui. As the raft came upon the stream of water and the adjacent sand, it seemed as though it was the first vestige of civilization encountering an unfamiliar, alien landscape, one devoid of all life, and of all sound. But as it ground its way up onto the packed sand, the empty echo of the thin wind was gradually replaced with a cacophony of eager, excited voices. "As you can see, Toa, the acute X-ray vision of my mask has no problem navigating through this dense fog. Kemet Nui was ahead of us the whole time!" With a thud, a small red figure wearing mahogany robes and carrying a fire staff stepped out onto the shore. Adjusting the visual magnification of his Noble Zalmex, Turaga Akito’s weathered, creased face broke into a wide grin. "At last, I have returned! Oh, it feels so good to be on black soil once more!" Behind him, Chompshi, Vrael, and the Toa Terra all stepped off of their wooden vessel and took in the landscape with eager eyes. Never before had these warriors been to the land the Toa Sah had liberated so long ago. Truth be told, the six Toa Terra were still rather naïve; but despite their youth, forty years of defending their land, and recently Punt Nui as well, had given them plenty of experience in new situations. Nevertheless, they found nothing odd in the softly blowing breeze with no sounds to accompany it, or the fact that the beach was littered with small tracks in all directions. Tracks that belonged to no Rahi or Matoran — troglodyte tracks. Attar, thoughtful as always, bent down toward the elder of Terra Nui. "Is it always this quiet on Kemet Nui, Turaga?" Akito laughed, moving forward resolutely. "Not at all, my boy! This is only the southern coast. Once we near Tai-Koro, you will be hearing the lively jubilee from kio around! But come, the desert will be harder to traverse later in the day. We shall take the Hakeahu II up the tributary of the Hapi River." He pointed to the small flow of water which was emptying into the sea near where the raft had been grounded. "Does that stream lead to Tai-Koro?" Heaka asked. "Well, not exactly. This will lead to the aforementioned body of water, which meanders through the Farafa Dunes and past the Dahkla Oasis. That would make a good stopping point, actually, as we can load up on foodstuffs, fresh water, and supplies there. From the Oasis, Tai-Koro is only a few kio away. We should reach Turaga Atemu's village by midday, at least. Now come, we must be off." With that, the Toa and Turaga boarded their vessel, and began moving up the stream. Tai-Koro, and the rest of Kemet Nui, awaited them. They did not know what they would find, but they were eager to leave the silence of the beach and the fog of the morning. Only adventure waited, it seemed. Time would reveal how wrong they were. Review
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Prologue "Nature will have its way." ~~~ It was the day of the Festival of Diamonds: a huge celebration to commemorate Terra Nui's deliverance from the evil Sharaku forty years ago. And the Matoran village was richly decorated for the occasion — festive garlands of leaves draped around every building, bunches of fresh flowers in containers filling the air with perfume. Several curved banquet tables had been set in the town square where, in the sight of centerpiece statue's shadow, Matoran, as well as the six Torika, would eat from plates piled high with nature's bounty. Even the heroes of the island, the eight Toa and their Turaga, would sit among friends, chatting over the meal. All in all, the holiday, though loved by all, did have a more somber purpose — as a memorial for those who gave their lives to save their home, most notably Hakeahu, who the statue in the village represented. Also, however, the occasion also had come to represent the beauty of nature — and was thus a grand sight to behold indeed. Hours later, the festival had begun and, though in full swing, had been moved inside to keep everyone dry from the cool spring rain which had begun to fall. Within minutes the rain intensified until water was pouring down from the sky, a rainstorm covering most of the island. Then, thunder began to flash in the distance. ------ In the wake of the Battle of Terra Nui, a shrine had been dedicated on Mount Tongaru: Otasuva, a six-sided pyramid made out of the multicolored keystones which had led to the finding of the Mask of Nature, perched upon the mountain's icy peak. The shrine sat atop its silver base, untouched since its creation — until now. From the heart of the rainstorm that had been above Mount Tongaru, a huge lightning bolt suddenly flashed down from the clouds, dropping right onto the shrine of Otasuva. For a second the insides of the keystones glowed with a light of their own, before shattering into molten shards which sliced into the snowy slope of the mountain, along with bits and pieces of the broken base. The energy of the lightning bolt dissipated, and everything became quiet again, except for the hissing of the cooling fragments. However, if one were there to listen closely enough, another sound could be heard — one not unlike that of footsteps. Review
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Prologue "No Eden can stay free from the shadow of sin forever." ~~~ Terra Nui: an island paradise, untouched by war and strife for thousands of years, almost as it was the day Matoran settlers first set foot on it, a jewel in the great silver protodermis sea. Covered in a range of interlocking ecosystems, from a lush rainforest teeming with Rahi, to its icy mountain's peak, to its active volcano at its heart, Terra Nui supports an almost unprecedented array of unique places and creatures. One would imagine that a huge volcano would be a great hazard to the island's inhabitants, yet Mount Juvala never seemed to hurt even a fly. As a result, giant worms and other strange creatures thrive almost up the volcano's slopes. Similarly, no tsunamis, hurricanes, or earthquakes ever seemed to harm Terra Nui, almost as if a giant hand was shielding the island from harm. So far, no Terra Nui Matoran had ever felt the grip of fear, or the stab of starvation in their stomachs, for hundreds of thousands of years . . . not yet. ------ The huge vessel plowed through the seas, gliding silently along like a huge medusa, oblivious to the storm around it. Marked with huge scars of seafaring battles, and with giant spikes jutting from its sides currently acting as lightning rods, it was truly a fearsome sight. As the ship cruised along, creaking with every movement, a lone figure stood at its prow, his tattered cape blowing in the gale as much as the ship's very sails. Suddenly lightning cracked overhead, briefly illuminating the figure. Crouched, gaunt, and shrunken, he nonetheless possessed an aura of command and strength. Gold armor, dulled with age and wear was fastened in a loose-fitting manner around his ebony, spike-covered frame. Clawed hands and feet clutched the rails and planks of the ship, and a hollow-eyed, black mask with gleaming evil crimson eyes covered his hideous face. As he stood there, a lone island came slowly into view. "Ah, there it is," he thought to himself, "the key to ultimate power. Back at the Brotherhood, they laughed at me, even in the presence of Lord Makuta himself. Soon they will pay. All the world will pay for this, even the high almighty Mata Nui, whom I cursed in my wrath! The treasure of Terra Nui will soon be mine!" Suddenly the ship slowed, and the bright, glaring light in its heart dimmed. "More heat!" the black figure bellowed. Seconds later, the flame reignited to an even stronger one than before, and the vessel lurched forward again, closing the gap between it and the island. As the being moved down towards the hold, a small, spike-covered insectoid creature, its eyes glowing almost as bright as its master's, clambered up the cape and onto the black figure's shoulders. Whispering almost to himself, the lord softly spoke. "Nothing can stop me!" Review
